| Page 81 CHAPTER THREE - THE PENALTY OF FAILUREhe had chosen. This alone could re-establish
him in his own eyes, and when the words were spoken he felt enormous
relief, and not one single twinge of regret. THIS time the wolf was prowling round outside the sheepfold. H.M, frigate Indefatigable had chased the French corvette Papillon into the mouth of the Gironde, and was seeking a way of attacking her where she lay at anchor in the stream under the protection of the batteries at the mouth. Captain Pellew took his ship into shoal water as far as he dared, until in fact the batteries fired warning shots to make him keep his distance, and he stared long and keenly through his glass at the corvette. Then he shut his telescope and turned on his heel to give the order that worked the Indefatigable away from the dangerous lee shore - out of sight of land, in fact. His departure might lull the French into a sense of security which, he hoped, would prove unjustified. For he had no intention of leaving them undisturbed. If the corvette could be captured or sunk not only would she be unavailable for raids on British commerce, but also the French would be forced to increase their coastal defences at this point and lessen the effort that could be put out elsewhere. War is a matter of savage blow and counter blow, and even a forty-gun frigate could strike shrewd blows if shrewdly handled. Midshipman Hornblower was walking the lee side of the quarterdeck, as became his lowly station as the junior officer of the watch, in the afternoon, when Midshipman Kennedy approached him. Kennedy took off his hat with a flourish and bowed low as his dancing master had once taught him, left |
|
| Book Pages:default , 007 , 008 , 009 , 010 , 011 , 012 , 013 , 014 , 015 , 016 , 017 , 018 , 019 , 020 , 021 , 022 , 023 , 024 , 025 , 026 , 027 , 028 , 029 , 030 , 031 , 032 , 033 , 034 , 035 , 036 , 037 , 038 , 039 , 040 , 041 , 042 , 043 , 044 , 045 , 046 , 047 , 048 , 049 , 050 , 051 , 052 , 053 , 054 , 055 , 056 , 057 , 058 , 059 , 060 , 061 , 062 , 063 , 064 , 065 , 066 , 067 , 068 , 069 , 070 , 071 , 072 , 073 , 074 , 075 , 076 , 077 , 078 , 079 , 080 , 081 , 082 , 083 , 084 , 085 , 086 , 087 , 088 , 089 , 090 , 091 , 092 , 093 , 094 , 095 , 096 , 097 , 098 , 099 , 100 , 101 , 102 , 103 , 104 , 105 , 106 , 107 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 , 127 , 128 , 129 , 130 , 131 , 132 , 133 , 134 , 135 , 136 , 137 , 138 , 139 , 140 , 141 , 142 , 143 , 144 , 145 , 146 , 147 , 148 , 149 , 150 , 151 , 152 , 153 , 154 , 155 , 156 , 157 , 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 , 162 , 163 , 164 , 165 , 166 , 167 , 168 , 169 , 170 , 171 , 172 , 173 , 174 , 175 , 176 , 177 , 178 , 179 , 180 , 181 , 182 , 183 , 184 , 185 , 186 , 187 , 188 , 189 , 190 , 191 , 192 , 193 , 194 , 195 , 196 , 197 , 198 , 199 , 200 , 201 , 202 , 203 , 204 , 205 , 206 , 207 , 208 , 209 , 210 , 211 , 212 , 213 , 214 , 215 , 216 , 217 , 218 , 219 , 220 , 221 , 222 , 223 , 224 , 225 , 226 , 227 , 228 , 229 , 230 , 231 , 232 , 233 , 234 , 235 , 236 , 237 , 238 , 239 , 240 , 241 , 242 , 243 , 244 , 245 , 246 , 247 , 248 , 249 , 250 , 251 , 252 , 253 |